Only in Dreams
by Tyreal
Summary: Well, you'll get used to it.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Sit back, relax and don't sue our ass! You should know who owns this!

Authors notes: Well, the first time we wrote this, it was pretty um...newbie-ish is the easiest put down I can think of ;; so, I decided after 2 years (yes, 2 years) that I would overhaul this and try to continue the story.

About the fic: The fic is started when Ramiel attacks. Weve decided to try to keep out of the Eva/Angel battles as much as possible - we cant do the fights justice that the series did, so were sticking to our "side" story.

PROLOGUE

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"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" Shinji screamed as the beam hit Unit 01, the LCL in the entry plug boiling all around him. Immense pain seared his body, causing him to writhe and kick at his controls in a futile attempt to free himself from having to endure this agony. As Shinji began to pass out, the bubbles from the boiling LCL cleared and a calmness came to the entry plug.

Shinji found himself lying on his back, on a green hillside. The pain was gone. Sitting up, Shinji looked around in amazement. The hill was little more than a sloping field, nestled in a long valley, but this was very, very different to where he had been. Am I dead? Did the Angel kill me? Is this Heaven? Wind was bristling through his short cut hair, the scent of grass and barley came to him. Thinking about what had just happened and where he was, Shinji realised that he wasnt in his plug suit, which seemed to have been replaced by tight breeches and a leather jerkin. However, this was just a minor point in the list of things that were very wrong at this moment. Firstly, he was in the middle of nowhere, with no recognisable landmarks or memory of getting there. Secondly, the Angel, Tokyo 3 and Unit-1 were nowhere to be seen and thirdly there was a large swirly, white thing coming towards him

'Wait, what?'

xxxxx

Shinji awoke to a white ceiling and a hospital bed. Rei Ayanami, the reclusive and mysterious First Child was standing over him with a food cart at her side. She looked down at him curiously with her red eyes as if he was the strangest being she had seen.

"Ayanami?" Shinji asked still half asleep, his mind a little foggy, and now confused by the presence of the First Child. Rei had started to speak, ignoring Shinji's question as she recited from her ever present notebook.

"I'm here to inform you of the schedule of Operation Yashima. It will begin at 0:00, midnight. The two pilots, Ikari and Ayanami, will scramble at the cage at 17:30 today. At 18:00, ready Units One and Zero. At 18:05, launch. At 18:30, arrive at the Emergency Base on Mt. Futagoyama. Wait there for further instructions. When the day changes, the operation starts" she finished, reaching under the cart

"Here is the new one" she stated handing him a packaged plug suit.

Shinji looked at the package handed to him and thought about what he would have to do, about getting back into that monster and being hurt all over again. Before he could mouth any protest, a plastic covered plate with the words "meal" printed on a label, was put onto his lap. The thought of food and the coming battle helped Shinji decide he wasn't hungry.

"We will depart in 60 minutes", it was a command. Coming from The first child, it wasn't surprising, but unnerving. As Rei turned to leave, Shinji asked, "Do I really have to get into Eva again?" looking up, Shinji was greeted by the usual, neutral expression of the first child as she responded monotonously "Yes you do". Shinji watched as Rei opened the door and walked out, leaving him alone to his thoughts.

xxxxx

Time 00:00, Mt. Futagoyama. It was time. Misato leaned in towards the monitors, slamming a fist down on the console. "Commence operation!"…

xxxxx

The Angel's blast rocked the mobile command centre violently, knocking personnel off their feet and shattering windows. The Angel remained unharmed by the glancing shot from the massive rifle, continuing it's drilling into the Geofront and preparing a second blast. Unit 01 quickly replaced the enourmous fuse, readying for the next shot, however the angel was quicker, firing its purple energy beam directly at the prone figure of unit one. Rei's reflexes matched that of the Angel as she commanded her Unit 00 in front Unit 01, taking the brunt of the blast. Wielding the makeshift shield, Rei was protected for a time. But by standing directly in front of the Angel, she protected Shinji and the command centre from the deadly beam. Knowing the shield wouldn't last long Shinji hurried, almost screaming at the rifle to charge faster. Watching the crosshairs line up he fired a second shot directly across the angels own beam, cutting through the Angels AT field and penetrating it dead centre. The resulting explosion tore through the Angel, it fell slowly to the streets below, the ungodly shape crashed into buildings and parks, its form crippled, its life gone.

Shinji ejected his plug and rushed towards the bubbling mass that was Unit 00. In some mocking repetition of his father, Shinji clenched the searing hot release handles. Fighting the pain, he twisted the metal grips with all his strength. Steadily, the plug opened. Throwing the hatch aside, Shinji leapt inside, getting burned for his troubles, to see an almost unconscious Rei, lying in the super heated LCL. Looking up, Rei could see tears well up in the eyes of the Third child.

"Ayanami, are you all right? Ayanami! Don't say you have nothing else; don't say good-bye before a mission! Its too sad." Shinji sobbed.

"Why are you crying? I'm sorry, I don't know what to do or feel at a time like this"

"You could try smiling"

A curious expression took over the first's face as she contemplated Shinji's response and ever so slowly a small smile crept across her face.

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Chapter Notes:

I think that went rather well. As I said earlier, a complete overhaul of the original. Hopefully the chapters will get easier as I continue. 


	2. The world is how it is

                                                **The world is how it is**

   **Disclaimer:** Well wadda ya know? We don't own Eva! Damn! And we cudda made                        millions

 **Author's notes:**

 Tyreal: Oooooooh you're gonna really like this! Well maybe not, but its important!           Erm neither of us do maths as an A level, so if its wrong, we don't care.

Bowburn: *shudder maths*

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As Shinji strolled, the gentle breeze brushed against his cheeks and swept over the rolling hills. 

  "Aah"

  Taking a deep breath of fresh air, Shinji tried to take in the smells of dew, and the chirping sounds of the few Cicidads that were left. The sun was on his face and the sky was blue. Bliss….

  It was at this time that Shinji's SDAT finished playing and started to rewind. With a sigh, the young pilot rose from his bed. Mornings were never the best time of day, week, month or year to Misato Katsuragi, and Shinji had learned this in the few short months he had lived with the captain.

  It was strange. Every morning, Shinji would wake up, take a shower, feed Pen Pen, make breakfast for the Captain and himself before waking the aforementioned adult. But it always seemed like a mad scramble for the door once it turned 8 o'clock. This confused Shinji, but he chose to ignore it, leaving it to some greater force than he.

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As usual, the trip to school was boring and uneventful, that is until Touji and Kensuke caught up with the Third Child. Shinji sighed internally and prepared himself for the barrage of questions he was bound to receive from his two friends concerning his, immature, in his view, guardian.

  "G'morning Shinji! So, how's the Goddess today?" an expectant look covering both boys faces as they walked either side of him. Ever since the confrontation with the third Angel Shamshel, Touji Suzuhara and Kensuke Aida had been madly obsessed with Shinji's guardian. This was something Shinji could not figure out to save his life. So, to put his friends at ease and to get them to drop the subject Shinji recited his morning ritual to his friends 

  "She's a slob as usual, and I'm betting she's going to be late for work again, the fourth time this week!" Shinji rolled his eyes in dismay. It was true, Misato had been late from Monday to Thursday and she didn't seem to be learning from the all of the "talks" she was having with Dr. Akagi. A weight seemed to lift from his friends as they sighed admiringly, letting smiles dominate their entire faces. The duo walked on in silence, with a very disturbed Shinji following. 

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"Rise! Bow! Sit!" called the class rep as she repeated her daily honours. The class obeyed, opened up their laptops and continued to ignore the sensei as he prattled on about some sort of arithmetic and someone called Pythagoras. By the end of the lesson, Touji couldn't understand what pie had to do with maths. Shinji had tried to explain that Pi was seven divided into twenty, but had given up when Touji had argued that it cannot be done, as everyone knows that its twenty one divided by seven.

  As both children sat confused under the tree in the yard, Kensuke had been up to his usual business with his camera. And as usual, the targets of this weren't too pleased. The teenager ran past screaming something about international UN laws followed by a mob of girls swimming team candidates. That was when Shinji noticed Rei. The First Child always sat quietly in class and seemed to emulate this wherever she went. Her blue hair was cut short, but it covered enough of her face to block Shinji's view of her crimson eyes. Those eyes showed no feeling or weakness that Rei may have. It suddenly dawned on Shinji that, this girl, this person who was his partner, was somewhat different from everyone, yet somewhat familiar to him. However, Shinji's thought waves were halted by a very excited and smiling Touji. It took Shinji a second or ten to realise what was going through the other boys mind, but before he could defend himself, Touji assaulted him with a regiment of embarrassment 

  "What were you looking at Shinji? Ayanami? Ayanami's legs? Ayanami's boobs? C'mon Shinji don't hold out on me, I know you were staring at her!"  Shinji sat there blushing; obviously, Touji had become too excited to realise that he was shouting. Stammering, Shinji tried to come up with an answer, but stopped when Rei appeared, standing right in front of him.

  "Pilot Ikari, I must speak with you." There was a calm, silence, then a gasp from several class members, who in their entire life around Rei, had never seen her start a conversation with anyone, ever! Trying to regain what little dignity Shinji had left, he started to stutter an apology, but was interrupted when the First Child grabbed hold of his collar and pulled him towards the school fence.

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As soon as they reached the fence, Rei started her interrogation.

  "Ikari, I have noticed a lapse in your concentration during our classes. Also you seem to be paying little attention to your surroundings as of late. Why?" This stunned Shinji, he had expected to receive another slap from his associate, or at least a verbal roasting, but not this. Rei continued "You seem uneasy around myself and other Nerv personnel, as well as being rather…protective when approached about the incident with the fifth angel. This leads me to believe that something troubles you. Something you experienced within your Eva must have been the trigger for this reaction. Am I correct?"

  Interrogated was an understatement Shinji thought, "I'm being questioned, judged and sentenced. It's the Ayanami inquisition!" Shinji gasped, as he realised he had let his thoughts speak out loud. Her crimson eyes, still, even as they seemed transfixed on him, gave no hint of Rei's feelings. Shinji blushed again, and then proceeded to explain as best as he could, "Well" he started "To start with, I found out how lobsters feel when they get cooked. Then I had a weird dream, which must have been when I passed out. Then I woke up to see you." Taking a breath and setting himself against the fence, Shinji carried on. "Lately, I've been having the same dream, two or three times a week since the incident. It's confusing, but other than that I'm ok. Why do you want to know anyway?"

  Rei looked blankly at him for a moment, reminiscing an earlier conversation she had with the commander. 

  _"Rei, there has been a decline in the Third's synch scores. He seems to be untroubled by this. I wish for you to study him and find out what the problem is, however do not alert him to your intentions."_

  Rei turned from Shinji, replying, "Do I need a reason for my concern?" before walking off towards the school building. Shinji let out a sigh and sank towards the ground, propped up against the fence, the conversation reminding him of the dream and the strange place's he'd seen. The bell went signalling the end of break and more work for the students at Tokyo 3 High. A mildly confused Shinji Ikari, Pilot of Unit 01, looked at the sky and wondered whether or not this was one really big and troublesome dream.

To be continued…

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Author's ramblings number 1:

**Tyreal:** WOOOOO friggin HOOOOO! First chapter done and erm…bring on the rest! Oh that's rite were writing them 0_o

**Bowburn: **That's the first chapy done, if a little small the rest may get bigger ****


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